Pocket gopher trap



P 19.34- w. BARRETT 1,972,641

POCKET GOPHER TRAP Filed July 8, 1933 Patented Sept. 4, 1934 V i I UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE POCKET GOPHER TRAP William Barrett, Sioux City, Iowa Application July 8, 1933, Serial No. 679,526

' 4 Claims. (01. 43-80) My invention relates to a trap specifically in- The bar 22 is shapedas shown in Figure 7 and tended for trapping gophers. includes the depressed portion 24. I

Anobject of my invention is to provide a trap The jaw 21 includes the horn-shaped mem which will positively ensnare the gopher when ber 25, which terminates in the sharp points 26. the animal approaches the surface, The member is welded orsoldered' t0 the Another object of my invention is to make jaw 21.. use of the natural instinct of gophers to enable Secured at the center of the bar 17 at 2'7 is one to trap the rodents. the strong spring 28. .The other end of the A further object of my invention is to provide spring 28 is secured at 29 to the center of the 10 a trap of such a mechanism which will insure jaw 21. e the catch of the animal with a subsequent im- The jaw 21 is shaped substantially as'shown. mediate killing. The member 13 of the frame includes an open- A further object of my invention is to accoming 30, which is adapted to receive the end of plish the above mentioned objects in a constructhe trip lever 20. p 15 tion which is simple and easy or manufacture. In setting the trap the jaw 21 is forced to With these and other objects in view, myinits horiz n p i n as h wn in Fi ure 2 vention consists in the construction, arrangeand 4. The lever 20 is inserted in the openment and combination of the various parts of ing 30, bringing t p a 18 to a p at y a my device, whereby the objects contemplated are vertical position a shown in Figure 20 attained, as hereinafter more fully set forth, plate 8 is Slightly bent as. showny pointed out in my claims, and illustrated in the Vlrtue 0f the engagement of the lever'zo in the accompanying drawin in hich; Y opening 30, the jaw 21 will be retained in its Figure 1 is a plan View of the trap bef e horizontal position with the maximum amount setting j of tension applied to the jaw through the spring 25 Figure 2- is a plan view of the trap after setting, V i

Figure 3 is a side elevation of Figure 1, "The pocket gopher instinctively seeks the op- Figure 4 is a side elevation of Figure 2, emng to the gopher hole when inside to fill the Figure 5 is a general view showing the pocket opfemng Wlth dlrt' The f carned by the gopher about to be trapped, animal upwardly along the incline of the tun- 30 Figure 6 is a Similar View showing the gopher nel, WhlCh is indicated. by the character 31 in already trapped Figures 5 and 6. i

Figure is a rear View of Figure 1 and thgigliiarg 5 shows the animal already entering i153: 35:1 3.1515862223263282? lfi'igtgrfng-icate g It will be seen that the trap nearly fills the 35 i hole so that the ammal will be compelled to eially the framework of the trap. This framepass therethrough in his passage upwardly. work comprises the generally .U-shaped member As Shown in Figure 5 the animal is carrying 11, which includes the members 12 and the end a small mass of earth 32. The earth is in front meniilber 13, which is slightly indented as shown. of the animal and is against the plate T e framework 10 also includes the further As Soon the animal pushes further 40 substantially u-shaped members 14, which are wardly, the plate 18 will be forced rearwardly, arced in their upper portlons. carrying the trip lever 20 with it. The trip lever C s members 15 serve to brace an arrange- 20 will be released from the opening 30 and the ment as shown, and the further horizontal mem- Spring urged jaw 21 111 be thrown dl 45 h 16 1s p d for the i e pu In the position shown in Figure 5, the ani- All of these members are oined together in mal 111 b entering the trap approximately as a y suitable manner known In the shown with its four legs straddling the spring Received between the members 12 is the bar 2 17, about which is pivoted the thin plate 18 by As soon as the trap is sprung, the jaw will 50 means of the ral ear members 19. carry the animal upwardly as shown in Figure q l y attached t h pl 8 at a s 6 when the points 26 will penetrate into the the tripping lever 20. body of the animal, and the body of the ani- T p i e iaw 21 ur d to the r 2 mal' being soft will tend to split and take the which is jcurnalled within the members 12 at position approximately as shown with the firm 55 the points 23. pressure being exerted against the junction of the member 16 and the forward U-shaped member 14..

The animal will be thus securely trapped and practically instantly killed.

The trap is usually made approximately three inches in width with approximately a similar height, and I have found by carefully fixing the distance between the prongs 26 and the bar 17 at about six inches, that the best effect is secured as far as proportional size of the animals is concerned.

In this way by fixing the sizes, the animal is securely entrapped at the proper points regardless of the difference in size.

It will be seen in Figure '7 that. due, to the shape of the bar 22 at 24, that when the jaw 21 is brought to its horizontal position the depression 24 will be as shown inthis figure. This will allow the spring 28 to be received within this depression so that it will lie flat; in other words the bar 22 moves with the jaw 21.

The position of the depression 24 is shown slightly out of position in Figure 7 with respect to the jaw 21 to show this feature more clearly. j It will be noted that the upper part of the jaw 21. includes the bent portion 33, which is adapted to follow the contour of the hornshaped member 25. This portion also receives part of the body of the animal to cause a firm gripping effect, to cause a positive retention of the animal therein] The pivotal connection 19 is made by simply bending back a pair of integral ears on the plate 18 as shown. 7

It will now be seen that I have devised a pocket gopher trap which will positively trap the gopher when it approaches the surface.

It will also be seen that my invention takes advantage of the natural instinct of gophers to fill up an opening aboveth'em.

tion and arrangementof the parts of my inven- It will be seen further that the trap is positive in action and that it is simple in construction. I

Some changes may be made in the construction without departing from "the real spirit and purpose of my invention, and it is my'intention to cover by my claims any modified forms of structure or use of mechanical equivalents, which may be reasonably included within their scope;

I claim as my invention: y

1. A pocket gopher trap comprising a frame including a U-shaped base having an opening in its inner end, a spring urged jaw positioned horizontally within the base and. pivotally to allow closing of the jaw when the trip plate is forced outwardly causing the trip lever to be drawn out of the said opening.

2. A pocket gopher trap comprising a frame including a U-shaped base having an opening in its inner end, a spring urged jaw positioned horizontally within the base and pivotally mounted therein, a trip plate pivotally mounted at the outer end of the base, a trip lever pivotally secured to the plate and adapted to be received within the opening to retain the jaw, and to allow closing of the jaw when the trip plate is forced outwardly causing the trip lever 'to be drawn out of the said opening, said jaw including. an arced member having a pair of sharp points adapted to pierce an animals body when the jaw is sprung, a framework attached to the base. and extending thereabove, said framework including a pair of upstanding arcuate members including a top cross bar attached therebetween, against which the jaw bears when sprung. a

3. A pocket gopher trap comprising a frame including a U-shaped base having an opening in its inner end, a spring urged jaw positioned horizontally within the base and pivotally mounted therein, a trip plate pivotally mounted at the outer end of the base, a trip lever pivotally secured tothe plate and adapted to be received within the opening to retain the jaw, and to allow closingofthe jaw when the trip plate is forced outwardly causing the trip lever to be drawn out of the said opening, said jaw including an arced member positioned transversely of the frame having a pair of sharp points adapted to pierce an animals body when the jaw is sprung, and an arcuate framework attached to the base and extending thereabovasaid framework including an outer frame against which the body of the animal is compressed by. the jaw.

4. A pooket'gopher trap comprising a frame including a U-shaped base having an opening in its inner end, a jaw having a pair of piercing points positionedhorizontally within the base and pivotally mounted therein, a bar secured across the outer end of the base, a spring attached'to the bar and thejaw, a trip plate pivotally mounted on the bar, a trip lever secured to the plate and'adapted to be received within the opening to retain the jaw, and to allow closing of the jaw upwardly when the trip plate is forced outwardly causing the trip lever to be drawn out of the'openin'gjand an arcuate framework attached to the'b'ase and extending thereabove arranged to substantially fill a gopher hole, said framework including an outer member against-which the body of theanimal is compressed by the jaw. I

- 1 WILLIAM BARRETT.

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